Improvement in regenerator-furnaces



3 Sheets--Sheet 1. WILLIAM SELLERS. lnprovemet in'Regeneraltor-Furnaces..`

Patented my 16,1872.

au. //m-L/r/msMF/y/c @ammasso/w55 PMCESS) Y Patened July I6, |372.

A 3 Sheets-Shei 3. WILLIAM SELLERS. lmprovement'in Begenerator-Furnaces.

UNITED STATES PATEN" QEETGE.,

IMPROVEMENT IN REGENERATOR-FURNACES.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 129,429, dated July 16,1872.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, 'WILLIAM SELLERS, of the city and county ofPhiladelphia, in the State of Pennsylvania, have invented certain newand useful Improvements in the art of Regenerating Heat for Furnaces, ofwhich improvements the following is a specification:

My invention relates to that class of heatregenerators by means of whichthe Waste products of combustion from a furnace, on their way to thechimney, are employed to heat the gaseous fuel or the atmospheric air tobe supplied thereto for its combustion, or both the gaseous fuel and theair ou their Way to the furnace in which they are to be consumed. Wasteproducts of combustion have heretofore been thus utilized in the artsunder two systems differing from each other. By one of these systems theheat of the waste products is continuously given off to a surface ofsuitable material, through which material it is continuously transmittedto and taken up from the opposite surface. By the other, the heat of thewaste products is, by alternate intermissions, given off to and taken upfrom the same surface.

A further distinctive feature of these two systems respectively is that,in the rst, one surface alwaystakes up the heat of the waste productspassing continuously over it, and the other surface gives off this heatto the incoming air passing continuously over it, while in the othersystem the same surface to and from which the heat of the waste productsis by alternate intermissions given off and taken up, is also byalternate intermissions exposed to the action of the waste products andto the action of the air (or gas,) the Waste products passing in onedirection and the air (or gas) in the opposite direction.

In the first system the waste products and the air respectively act uponall parts of the respective surfaces simultaneously, while in the othersystem the waste products and the air (or gas) alternately actintermittently upon all parts of the same taking up and giving offsurface. In the first system, however, the air alone is heated on itsway to the furnace while the gas moves toward the furnace in which it isto be consumed without any elevation of its temperature above that ofits producing furnace, this temperature being much lower than that ofthe'air when they meet.

A feature peculiar to the second system is, that the air (or gas) as itenters the furnace to be consumed will pass over a surface which hasbeen exposed to and which has acquired the highest temperature of thewaste products, and the incoming air (or gas) Will acquire thistemperature momentarily, but as the taking up action of the air (or gas)continues, the giving-o action of the waste products being suspended,the temperature of the iniowing air (or gas) passing to the furnace mustnecessarily diminish as` its source of supply becomes exhausted, and theresulting temperature of the air (or gas) as it enters the furnace mustbe the mean between the two extremes.

. The result which characterizes these two systems respectively is, thatthe temperature obtained under the first, While substantially uniform,is not so high as might be derived from the same fuel if the gas met theair with an equally high temperature, while under the second system themean temperature obtained, though high, is remittent.

For convenience I shalldesiguate the first system 'as the double-surfacesystem, and the other as the fsingle-surface system. My inventionrelates to and is an improvement upon the double-surface system, myobject being to maintain continuously the highest temperature heretoforeattained only at intervals. My invention consistsof a chamber in whichthe Waste products of combustion are received directly from the furnace,in Which chamber these products, if unconsumed, may be thoroughlyconsumed, and from which chamber the products of combustion may bedischarged through series of pipes on each side of this chamber, forpurposes hereinafter described. And my invention further consists incombining a chamber in which the Waste products of combustion arereceived directly from a furnace, and in which chamber they may bethoroughly consumed; series of pipes on each side of said chamber,through which the products may be discharged from the receiving chamber;and secondary chambers into which the pipes on each side ofthe firstchamber discharge the products, from which secondary chambersrespectively these products pass through secondary series of pipes,either directly to the chimney or otherwise, as hereinafter set forth.

I am aware that some of the high temperatures of waste from furnacescannot be exhaustively utilized in heating both the air and the gasthrough the medium of two or even three sets of chambers withintermediate series of pipes, as above set forth, and I, therefore,multiply the chambers between the receiving-chamber and the chimney,with series of pipes to correspond,to any number required to extract thedesired quantity of heat from the waste products of combustion, and toimpart this heat to both the air and the gas, each series of pipes beingcombined with two chambers, as hereinbefore and as hereinafter morefully set forth.

As, in order to obtain the greatest quantity of heat from a givenquantity of waste products of combustion,both the air and the gas ontheir way to the furnace in which they are to be consumed should, justbefore entering that furnace, be exposed to the highest temperature ofthe waste, and as to obtain high temperatures the chambers and series ofpipes must be multiplied, my invention further consists in arranging thechambers and theinterposed series of pipes in such order that as theproducts of combustion pass from the receiving-chamber through the pipesand succeeding chambers and series of pipes to the chimney, both the airand the gas to be consumed in the furnace will move over series of pipessuccessively in the opposite direction, and as they approach the furnacepass over successively more highlyheated pipes. rlhe products ofcombustion, moving meanwhile toward the chimney, and at each series ofpipes parting with a portion of their heat, are, moreover, passingsuccessively through series of pipes,the exterior surfaces of which havebeen subjected to the earlier action of the incoming air and gas, andare, therefore, of successively lower temperature, so that thedifference of temperatures to which the inside and the outside of eachseries of pipes are respectively exposed, is reduced to the minimum.

The temperature ofthe chamber in which the waste products of combustionare received directly from the furnace being higher than that of anysucceeding chamber, my invention further consists in encompassing thereceiving-chamber with air and gas chambers and fines, so that any heatthat may be transmitted through the walls of the receiving-chamber willbe taken up by the air and gas on their way to the furnace. My inventionfurther consists in combining the chambers and series of pipes throughwhich the products of combustion pass from the furnace to the chimneywith the chambers through which the gas and air pass from theirrespective entrance-fines to the furnace in vertical lines, so that thepassage of both the gas and the air toward the furnace will befacilitated by accretions of heat taken up from cach successive seriesof pipes in their course 5 and my invention further consists incombining series of chambers and series of pipes, extending from onechamber to another, with air and gas chambers,-so that the pipes extendacross the air and gas chambers respectively, and the products ofcombustion passing through the pipes give off their heat to the air andgas passing over them.

In the accompanying drawing, which makes part of this specification,Figure lis a sectional side view of a heat-regenerator embodying myimprovement, and of a puddling-machine in which the gas and air areconsumed and from which the waste products of combustion are discharged,thus illustrating the operation of my improvements. Fig. 4 is atransverse vsection at the line c d of Fig. 1. Fig. 5 is a sectionalplan at the line e f of Fig. 4. Fie'. 6 is a vertical section at theline g h of Fig. 5. Fig. 7 is a vertical section at the line t lo ofFig. 5. Figs. 2,- 3, and 8 are views of the puddling-machine, to whichno further reference need be made herein, as it forms no part of thispatent.

The regencrator is of rectangular form, with four cross-walls extendingfrom bottoni to top in such manner as to form five chambers, as shown inplan, Fig. 5, and in elevation, Fig. l. The middle chamber is subdividedtransversely so as to form the three chambers H', K', and N'. The twochambers, A' and B', adjoining the middle chambers, are not subdivided.The two side chambers are subdivided so as to form in each two chambers,I' and L', and J and M'. From the puddling-vessel A, in which the airand gas are to be consumed, a flue, l T, extends down into the chamberH'. Across each of the chambers A and B', respectively, a series offire-clay pipes, d1 d1 d1 el el el extend from the chamber El' to thechambers I' and J', respectively. Below these pipes a second series ofsimilar pipes in like manner extend across the chambers A' and B',respectively, from the chamber K' to the chambers I' and J',respectively. Below these again a third series of pipes (which may be ofiron) in like manner extend across the chambers A' and B' from thechamber K' to the chambers L and M', respectively, and below these afourth series of similar pipes in like manner extend across the chambersA' B', respectively, from the chamber N' to the chambers L' and M',respectively. It is obvious that the number of sets of chambers andseries of pipes may be more or less, according to the height of thefurnace. It may further be observed that, as the waste products arereduced in volume as they arev diminished in temperature, a smallernumber of pipes will suffice in the lower series than is required fortherlarger volume of their higher temperature. From the bottom middlechamber, in this instance N', a flue leads to the chimney, and this flueis provided with a damper. The gas to be consumed in the furnace isadmitted through a ilue, C2, provided with a damper, D', to a chamber,from which it passes through openings a' a' a' into the chamber A',Figs. 5 and 6. The air to be supplied to the gas at the furnace isadmitted through a damper, E1, to a chamber, E2, from which it passesthrough openings c' c', Figs. 4, 5, and 7, to the chamber B'. From thechamber A' the gas passes to the iiue S by the iiue F', and from thechamber B' the air passes to the flue S by the flue G', the two unitingin the iiue S, which opens into the puddling-vessel A, burst into iiameand are utilized therein, the products of combustion being dischargedthrough the iiue T T into the chamber H'. It will be observed that thechamber H' has on either side of it the gas and air chambers A' and B',While the gas and air flues F' and G', leading to the furnace, pass overeither side of the top, and the discharge-flue T' enters the center ofthe top of this chamber, so that this chamber, which is subjected to thehighest temperature ofthe waste products of combustion, is entirelysurrounded by chambers and iiues, which will take up any heat that maybe transmitted through its sides and return it back again into thefurnace. The arrangement shown in Figs. l to 7 is the best mode in whichI contemplate applying my improvements, and the advantages combined init are numerous. The location of the receiving-chamber H' in the topv ofthe middle division of the regenerator with the air and gas chambers oneither side thereof, and the chambers K' and N' below it, with thechambers I' and L'Y on the outer sides of the chamber A', and thechambers J and M' on the outer side of the air-chamber B', gives thebest plan for construction, allv the lines being vertical, the mostconvenient arrangement for the introduction of the waste products ofcombustion from the furnace, and for the introduction of gas and air tothe furnace, the largest area of surface for the transv mission of heatto the gas and air, with the smallest area for loss of heat byradiation.

The operation, it will be seen, is as follows: The products ofcombustion from the chamber H' pass through the pipes d1 d' d1 into thechamber I', and through the pipes c1 c1 e1 into the chamber J'. Fromthese chambers, respectively, the products pass through the pipes d? d2and e2 c2 into the chamber K'. From K' they pass through the pipes d3 d3into the chamber L', and through the pipes e3 e3 into the chamber M',and from these chambers they pass through the pipes d4 dtand e4 e4 tothe chamber N', whence theyA pass into the chimney through a flue. Whilethe products of combustion are thus moving through these series of pipessuccessively toward the chimney, the gas is passing through the chamberA', and the air through chamber B' toward the furnace, the air and thegas, respectively, taking up the heat transmitted by the products ofcombustion through the pipes and given off from their outer surfaces, itbeing obvious that the gas and the air enter their respective chambersat the bottom, where the pipes, being heated only by the waste products,which have passed through all the series above, are reduced to a lowtemperature, and rise through the spaces between the higher seriessuccessively, which have had-an earlier contribution of heat from thewaste products until they reach the series of pipes nearest to thechamber H, which are, ofcourse, more highly heated than any seriesbelow, and the gas and air thus pass to and meet at the flue S with -thehighest temperature derivable from the waste products. On the otherhand, the waste products passing at their highest temperature throughthe series of pipes nearest the chainber H', and descending through thesuccessive series of pipes below, reach the lower pipes, which aresubjected to the cooling action of the entering air and gas,respectively, with a temperature so much reduced that the differencebetween the temperatures of the waste products and that of the incomingair and gas is reduced to the minimum. As the ascending air and gasacquire, and the descending products lose. heat at each stage of theseries, it is obvious'that the minimum dit'- ference of temperaturebetween the two is obtained at each stage of the series. The accretionof temperature by the air and hgas to be supplied to the furnace beingprogressive, the iiow of air and gas being continuousfrom theentranceilues to the point of combustion, and the temperature of thewaste products of combustion being constantly decreasing from thechamber H' to the chimney-the iiow of the waste products also beingcontinuous-I attain by this system a continuous iiow of gas and air, acontinuous heating of both, a con'- tinuous flow of waste products ofcombustion, a constant flame, and the highest temperature, with aminimum of destructive action upon the regenerative system.

I do notV claim, under this patent, subjecting the air moving to thefurnace in a continuous current to a progressivelylincreasin gtemperature, while the waste products of combustion moving from thefurnace to the chimney in a continuous current are subjected to aconstantly-decreasing temperature; nor do I claim the combination, invertical lines, of chambers and series of pipes extending from onechamber to another, with an intermediate chamber across which the pipesextend, and through which air or the Waste products of combustion pass,nor do I claim passing the Waste products of combustion through thepipes, 'and passing the air to be heated over the pipes, so that theheat from the products of combustion is taken up by the interiorsurfaces of the pipes, transmitted through the body to the exterior ofthe pipes, and given off from the eX- terior surface to the air passingover the pipes, as, although I believe myself to be a true and originalinventor of these features of my regenerative system, I have sincelearned that I am not the first inventor thereof, the same, orsubstantially the same, having been first invented by William Gorman andJohn Paton,

of Glasgow, North Britain, and being de scribed and represented inLetters Pat-ent of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland,granted to them under date of December 5, 1863, No. 3,057, and anapplication for Letters Patent of the United States therefor being filedby them simultaneously with the filing of this application; but

I claim as my invention, and desire to sccure by Letters Patentl. Theimprovement in the art of regenerating heat for furnaces, hereinbeforeset forth, which consists in subjecting both the air and the gas movingto the furnace in continuous currents, substantially as described, to aprogressively -increasing temperature, While the Waste products ofcombustion, moving from the furnace to the chimney in a continuouscurrent, are subjected to a constantlydecreasing temperature from theincoming currents, both of air and gas.

2. As an improvement in the art of regenerating heat for furnaces, thecombination of a central chamber, in which the Waste products ofcombustion are received from the furnace series of pipes through whichthe Waste products are passed, and over which the i11- comin g air andgas move toward the furnace, and side chambers into which the Wasteproducts are discharged. from the pipes on their Way to the chimney,substantially as described.

3. As an improvement in the art of regeneratin g heat for furnaces, thecombination of a central chamber, in which the Waste products ofcombustion are received from a furnace, series of pipes through whichthe Waste products are discharged from the central receiving-chamber,side chambers into which these products are discharged by the pipes, andsecondary series of the pipes through which the Waste products pass tothe chimney, or to a second central chamber connected with the chimney,While the incoming air and gas move toward the furnace over the pipes,substantially as described.

4. As anrimprovement 1n the art of regenerating heat for furnaces, thecombinatlon of 'a chamber in which the waste products of combustion arereceived directly from the furnace, with encompassing air and gaschambers, and air and gas iiues, substantially as and for the purposeset forth.

5. As an improvement in the art of regenerating heat for furnaces, thecombination, in vertical lines, of the chambers and seriesof pipesthrough which the products of combustion pass from the furnace to thechimney, with the chambers through which the gas and air pass from theirrespective entrance-fines to the furnace, substantially as and for thepurposes described.

6. As an improvement in the art of regenerating heat for furnaces, thecombination of series of chambers, and series of pipes extending fromone chamber to another, with air and gas chambers, so that vthe pipesextend across the air and gas chambers, respectively, substantially asand for the purpose described.

WM. SELLERS.

Witnesses:

J'. SNOWDEN BELL, JNo. H. HOGAN.

